Thomas
Thomas leaned forward using his legs to push his weight against the reinforced metal door. From dried, rusted hinges and bearings it groaned loudly in protest like an obstinate child refusing to get out of bed and going to school. When he was successful and had pushed it wide open he had raised his rifle mounted flashlight up to spot the grated catwalk that ran all along the walls. The others did the same and waved their beams of light around as though they were trying to scan for something that hid in the shadows.
There were no creatures hiding in the dark but what they did see released a collective gasp from the group.
Down beneath the catwalk looked to be a vehicle bay far larger than the outposts external appearance would have suggested. It was one thing for the base to go deep underground further than anyone expected but it was another to see a motor pool with large, boxy vehicles lined in a row. Thomas was never a car enthusiast beyond the simple appreciation of a performance vehicle’s design and speed but he could recognise the distinct design choice that immediately told him which model and which manufacturer they belonged to, the shape of the trucks that filled the garage was a large rectangular block with four large wheels on each side. The intake grille on the front was larger than the door Thomas had just forced open and the top of the trucks had a small cabin big enough for one person to fit semi comfortably in.
Though they were limited by the effective range of their own flashlights, Thomas could see at least four vehicle bays and a small workshop to his left and right side. Still, he kept his guard up as he approached the railing and scanned the ground below him for anything, it was as though the people running this place had been ordered to abandon it and leave everything as it was. Thomas was certain that if this was a military or private installation then surely whoever was in charge would have made sure that everything here was packed up and accounted for before leaving it for nature to reclaim. He thought about that for a second, glancing quickly over toward one of the workshops and took notice of the dull glimmer of ratchet spanners and other assorted hand tools that had been left on the bench for the taking. If this was indeed a military base, and they left everything here...
“Whoa!” Clarke exclaimed excitedly. “Would you look at this! Do you have any idea what this would sell for on the classic car market? Can you imagine if we were able to get these to work then we might be able to use it to carry us the rest of the way to The Cauldron?”
“How would we even fit?” Michael asked inquisitively. “There’s only seat for one person and nowhere for us to sit. Plus, wouldn’t the fuel have gone off like a hundred years ago or whatever?”
Clarke made a small ‘eh’ noise that didn’t sound like an agreement nor disagreement.
Thomas spotted a stairway that leads down into the vehicle bay and proceeded toward it. He had no idea what he was going to find down there or why he was even going, only that he wanted to explore and check out the rest of this place and see what he could find. As he got off the final step, the porous concrete wall to his left caught his attention with a giant laminated sheet, its glossy surface reflected the light so strongly that Thomas had to lower his weapon lest he blind himself and not catch any of the details printed on it.
It displayed a layout of tunnels and rooms at an angle that gave a three dimensional view without any details being blocked by things around them or above and below them. It was a layout of the floor plan for this place, he was certain of it as indicated by a red dot located on a long, rectangular room with giant lettering that said YOU ARE HERE.
The vertical corridor at the far end next to where they were had to have been the fire escape they descended through. Thomas saw multiple corridors sprouting off from the garage and into a interlacing network with multiple rooms. He could hear the others climbing down the stairs with a metallic clank clank clank but didn’t turn to look at them, instead he lazily gestured to the map with one arm.
“Come check this out, looks like a map of the place.”
They stood next to him but none said anything. Thomas continued to scan the layout and commit each detail to memory for future recollection.
“Where do we go from here?” Michael asked.
There was a brief pause before Thomas could answer, he had heard the question but was intent on forming an informed response by studying the layout. The pause lasted only a second but in his mind it might as well have been half an hour.
“Well,” he began, taking a step towards the map. “If we’re here, then we would need to find a way to this corridor here as that seems to lead to the rest this floor has to offer. These could be offices or private bedrooms or something so if we are going to stay here then we should investigate them. This looks to be like a breakroom or some kind of lounge area, I doubt there’s anything edible but you never know and we might get lucky to find something we can snack on later. But this here...”
He pointed to parts of the floorplan as he spoke to demonstrate his line of thinking. There was a room at the far end whose lettering had long since been removed but the imprint left could still be made with a bit of focus, he pointed at it intently.
“Its a bit hard to tell but I think the letters say that this was a breaker room. We might be able to get some power on in here if we are lucky. So that’s where we will go first.”
Nobody protested or offered up an alternate suggestion. Thomas had hoped Clarke or even Michael to make a mildly useful suggestion to contribute to the discussion, he didn’t want to feel like he was making all the decisions for the group for them. But he had to admit that the idea of them following his guidance around without question or hesitation made him wonder just how far they would follow him. Thankfully Thomas didn’t have intentions on abusing that power or deliberately lead them astray but he found the idea that he could say which direction they were to take and no one would question it.
“You okay?” Clarke asked.
Thomas snapped back to the present and refocused, without even being aware of it they had found the corridor they were looking for and were carefully walking down a concrete tunnel with linoleum tiled floors and plaster ceilings. It was in remarkably clean conditions despite its proximity to a large garage and being neglected. The corridor opened up to massive room that connected to the three tunnels. There was a small kitchen to the side with a few dishes and cups still stacked on a rack next to the sink and underneath a wall hanging water heater.
This must have been the first break room that Thomas spotted on the map. He ran through the memorized image in his brain to figure out where exactly they were in relation to the map layout. If they were in the first break room area then they would need to go down the left corridor and turn right at the next Y junction, follow it down, then turn left, follow it through and then look for the breaker room on the right.
The network of subterranean tunnels winded with rooms connected to one another. Some were offices with windows that had their blinds lowered, some appeared to be empty. They turned right where the hallway split, a sign poking out from the wall indicated men and women toilets. Given the pungent stench from the lavatories above them, Thomas didn’t want to risk a second exposure to something he was positive could be labelled as a bioweapon or even a crime against humanity.
Something primal deep within his core tickled him uncomfortably, it was as though the sensation of being watched and claustrophobia had merged together to become something else entirely leaving the intact, pristine corridors to be left with a sense of dread and fear. Thomas knew he wasn’t the only one feeling it, when he looked behind to check and see if the others were following him he could see the hyper-vigilance and anxiety in them. Their eyes darted around uncontrollably looking for any signs of something that could be hiding. Their hands shook with the only steadying factor stemming from the grip they held on their weapons.
The door for the breaker room appeared down the hall. A small ounce of relief washed over Thomas and he let his guard down just enough to stow his weapon and open the door. He grabbed the handle, turned, and the lock clicked so loudly that it rang down the halls like a gunshot. A brief spike of panic shot through Thomas and he pushed the door open.
The room smelled of old dust and stale air, columns of ancient server towers lined up creating narrow avenues of cables and loose parts. Thomas thought of a messy computer parts shop where none of the staff had cleared out the boxes of obsolete motherboards and assorted circuitry, leaving behind a chaotic assortment of waste that barely left any space on the floor. At the end of the electrical avenue and turning right Thomas spotted a panel he had mistaken for a door at first. It was as tall and wide as the one they had just gone through and familiar black and yellow chevrons rimmed the outer perimeter of the panel, on it were the words CIRCUIT BREAKER.
If there was any chance of getting the power back on in this place he figured this was as good as any other. A collage of stickers and symbolism of hazards present were faded but not to the degree that Thomas couldn’t understand. In small print there were what he believed to be instructions but it had been degraded enough that it was almost useless. He opened it, a small creak as it swung wide to expose the circuit breakers and a lone red eye.
A small glimmer of hope filled Thomas but he kept it under control to avoid jinxing their luck in the immediate future. And while he was happy to see the small light glowing angrily at them as though it had been disturbed by its slumber, he had to remind himself that there was every chance for this to go wrong.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Still, if that light is still powered on then that must mean wherever it is drawing power from has to be able to power up a much larger generator.
“Question!” He asked no one in particular. “Does anybody know much about these things?”
Thomas knew the only other person who could help was Clarke. He was certain that his brother would not know anything and that Ghilya knew even less which eliminated them both.
“Lemme get a closer look,” Clarke said as he pushed in closer.
Clarke leaned close to the breaker, analysing each switch and abbreviated name stencilled against the black canvas. “Uhhh huh... Yeah, okay... Mmhm... Ah! I think I got it.”
Thomas stepped back as did Michael and Ghilya. Clarke gripped a small handle and swung his arm down four times and pressed a big red button. A gentle hum came from the panel, at first Thomas had expected the lights to come on and blind them but all that had happened were for multiple little red lights to come on next to a switch. Clarke analysed each switch then began to flip them, then pushed on a green button that lit up as he did so.
There were no loud clicks. No high pitch whine escalating from a generator cycling up, just an instance where there was only darkness and the thin tunnels of light from their guns, and an overwhelmingly bright flash of icy blue light seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere.
Thomas squinted as the rest of the gang did to reduce the input.
Well that went better than expected.
Drives clicked and whirred all around them as the server stacks filled with electricity. They hummed to life, booting up their programs, initiating their functions and executing their responsibilities. Thomas allowed himself to crack a small smile.
To his right, he spotted a layout of the facility. A map similar to the one he found in the garage; where that one had been larger and shown a detailed layout of this particular floor, this one was smaller and gave a overall layout of the entire facility.
Before, he had thought this was as far below as they could go except now he discovered there were at least another seven floors beneath them. A tunnel that looked to be at least two kilometres long connected to the garage led to the surface while the other floors had their tunnel network spread out and overlap each other to look like a geometric spiderweb.
“We should go upstairs.” Thomas suggested thoughtfully.
“Why, what for?” Clarke said, Thomas could hear the elderly man’s eyebrows rise along with his intonation.
“If I’m reading this map right, it looks like there’s a place for all of us to sleep and an armoury we can stock up on.”
“Do you think it will have ammo we can use? I’m running a bit low.” Michael added.
Thomas could only shrug his shoulders. “Best case scenario; we have compatible ammo. Worst case; we ditch these,” He gestured to the weapon in his hands. “and pick up some replacements that can take the ammo we do find.”
Though Michael didn’t complain or say another word, it was obvious in the look in his eyes that he didn’t want to abandon his weapon. It had been his first weapon to own ever and despite prior misgivings about his little brother owning a weapon he had actually been handling it and taking good care of it more than he or anybody else would have thought. It made Thomas smile on the inside to see his sibling being responsible. But because of its status, Thomas knew Michael would be sad to lose it, whatever the circumstances may be.
The door to the floor above didn’t creak as loud as the one beneath it had. The hallways were pristine albeit covered in a layer of dirt and dust, the break-room for this floor had a cotton style carpeting who’s design hadn’t been used in the last century and fabric couches surrounded a large square coffee table in front of a large television. The adjoining kitchen had dark walnut pattern panels and a large sink just behind the couches. For what appeared to be a military installation the common spaces looked more homely than one would have suspected. It made the whole room feel like an old showroom display that had long been abandoned and left to be buried along with the rest of the facility.
With the lights on and the facility powered there didn’t seem to be any reason for the group to remain intact. When Clarke had discovered the sleeping quarters near the break-room he let out a celebratory whoop that made everyone else jump. He claimed the first room he had found which started to make Ghilya and Michael to spread out and search for their own room and claiming it, all Thomas could do was shake his head and chuckle to himself.
The room Thomas claimed for himself was incredibly spacious; a double bed that had its sheets neatly tucked and folded, a lone chair sat in the corner next to a small table with a lamp on it. To the right opposite the bed was the entrance to what Thomas believed to be a small toilet and sink. Unlike the corridor outside, unlike the breakroom, the motorpool downstairs, the rest of the facility, Thomas’ room had a small layer of dust covering everything that it spoke of how little this particular room was used compared to the rest of the rooms.
When he shrugged off the shoulder straps of his backpack Thomas hadn’t realised just how tired and stressed his shoulders were until the weight on his back had slouched off and fallen to the floor with a tinny, metallic clank. He sighed, the bed calling his name proved to be difficult to ignore, and he did nothing to stop himself from falling onto the mattress with a muffled thump!
The bed; a basic, simple pleasure overwhelmed Thomas with relief. In another time, in another life, Thomas would have called the mattress to be stiff or to firm for his liking to get a good night’s sleep. But after spending weeks out in the wild with danger at every turn, life threatening beasts on the hunt for him and his brother, and spending nearly every night on the damp, hard grass or gravel had hardened him up to the point that he found this particular bed to be the softest, most comfortable bed he had ever slept on. How long had it been since he last slept? A day, thirty-six hours without sleep? None of them had a chance to sleep last night, they couldn’t. The adrenaline filled them with energy from nearly dying and witnessing the largest explosion they had ever seen.
Thomas breathed heavily. Then yawned so hard that he felt something pop where his lower jaw was connected to.
Sleep came easy for the exhausted adventurer. Within minutes he was asleep and in a deep sleep cycle. But he didn’t have a pleasant dream.
The dream Thomas suffered was a mixture of real fears mixed with nonsensical events that only made sense to his dream self. He dreamt about his old life; working in his clinic with all his staff members present and doing their usual things. Michael is there, working as either a receptionist or his personal secretary he could not tell but he wore regular, everyday clothing. Michael took a scalpel and cut his wrist in a line that went around his arm and the flesh sloughed off to reveal the bones and tendons and flesh underneath... Except that isn’t what was there. What should have been muscles and tendons and bones was instead replaced with a matte dark grey framework that resembled small metallic building blocks with exposed cybernetic implants in the arms and chest.
He couldn’t remember why what happened next happened but the dream turned into a nightmare that had all the flesh of his brother disappear and in his place a robot of some kind with the implants he gave his brother exposed and in clear view for all to see. And yet, despite the horror he should have felt, his dream self acted as though this was his brother simply acting out and that if he ignored this call for attention then it would simply go away.
Thomas woke up not remembering the dream at all, only a few frames lingered in his memory after immediately waking up. His back was sore but he was certain that it had nothing to do with the firm mattress he slept on and more likely a result of hauling around his backpack for days on end with little rest. He got up to try out the bathroom facilities adjacent to his bed and tested to see if the water actually worked. At first Thomas was certain that the plumbing was beyond any reasonable use without significant replacement when he heard it groan loudly. It was a deep, low growling sound that he couldn’t tell if it came from the walls or the pipe itself, then without any notice the tap coughed out light brown coloured water for a few seconds before releasing a constant stream of clear water. He let it flow freely for a little while, then cupped his hands and tentatively tasted the water captured in his hands, after swishing it around in his mouth to find any traces of detectable grit or calcium buildup and not finding any he proceeded to swallow.
As strange as it was, Thomas found the water to be the best tasting thing he had ever experienced. It slid down his parched throat and he sighed quietly in relief.
Outside his bedroom door he could hear footsteps walking down the corridor and past his door. Thomas knew that it wasn’t Michael because he was usually heavy-footed and the footfalls weren’t making enough of an impact to suggest it was him. Ghilya’s steps were a polar opposite to Michael in that she was more quiet and soft, these were not soft footsteps. Which only left Clarke to be the only person that could be walking outside. Thomas reached for his gun and pulled the bolt back to inspect the chamber, when he was satisfied that there was round in the chamber and that the magazine currently inserted had enough ammunition in it that if he needed to use it he could put up a decent fight before reloading. Thomas opened the door and looked down the hallway and followed where the footsteps were heading to until he came upon the breakroom where Clarke was searching through the cabinets.
Thomas relaxed his posture a little and sat his weapon on the couch.
“Hey,” He said in a voice that was more croaky than he really felt.
Clarke shot up from what he was doing and spun to face Thomas and replied with a tired but pleasant voice. “Oh, Thomas. Hi.”
“Whatcha doing? Trying to find something to eat? A midnight nibble?”
“Yeah, pretty much. No such luck I’m afraid. All these cabinets here are filled with cups and plates and shit. Back home when I woke up in the middle of the night I usually found a small snack and some warm milk helped put me back to sleep... Except, well, y’know...”
Thomas let out a small content chuckle.
“Don’t suppose you need any help? I just woke up myself.”
Clarke smiled as he shook his head gently. “Nah, thank you.”
Thomas nodded and was about to turn around and collect his weapon before heading back to his room to try and get more sleep when Clarke called out for him.
“Hold on, mind if I ask you something?” Clarke asked.
Thomas turned around, eyebrows raised questioningly. “Sure, what’s up?”
Clarke gestured for the couch and proceeded to sit down on it. “I wanted to know more about you and your brother.”
Thomas sat down on the opposing side of the couch but kept his curious expression. “Whaddya wanna know?” He shrugged.
“Well, how did you lose your old man? I know we spoke of it briefly back on the mountain,” He jerked a thumb back. “But what’s the full story if you don’t mind me asking?”
Thomas let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding in and scratched the back of his head. “Well it happened when I was six and Michael was about two at the time. From what our mum told us, he was working construction on the Barrier during its final stages. A welder or something, I dunno. Apparently there was a gas pipe that was leaking and some electrician let a wire spark out and it ignited causing a chain reaction that got about fifteen other people, our dad included.”
“I remember hearing about that, the Sanctuary Hills explosion. It had halted construction efforts for like a month while investigators tried to figure it out.”
“Yeah, when we got told about what had happened I think mum took it the worst and Michael was lucky enough to be too young at the time to know anything.”
“So you and he never really had much of a father figure growing up?”
“Not really no. I only have a few blurry memories of him to begin with. Not to mention our mother had a few less than stellar partners since dad’s passing and none of them really gave the vibe that they would be a suitable role model.”
“Did she start seeing deadbeats?”
“To put it mildly. I remember there was this one guy she met when I was ten, hung out with him for a few months and then got rid of him when she realised he was this deranged enforcer for the 241 gang. Then about a year later she went out with this guy who had been making money boosting cars in our neighbourhood.”
“Geez!” Clarke exclaimed disbelievingly.
“Yeah, not long after that she gave the dating scene a rest and tried to focus on raising us two, she worked nearly three jobs and barely spent anytime with her. I think she was proud of me when I moved out knowing that I was now able to take care of myself. Then she focused all her efforts on Michael who didn’t exactly have an easy time growing up. I think had our dad been around still it might have helped him having a positive role model in his life.”
Clarke didn’t say anything immediately. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees and staring blankly at the coffee table. The moment of silence that followed stretched on for what felt like a minute too long before Clarke straightened his posture and looked back at Thomas.
“If...If we make it back... And this whole thing is over and we got the Dragon Lord to pull his forces back... I will see to it that your mother is looked after financially and that you and your brother are looked after for as long as I am a politician.”
Thomas was about to dismiss Clarke and wave him off before he was cut off.
“I’m serious. You guys have a friend and a patron in the Senate. I’ll personally ensure you guys are looked after.”
“Thanks man, but, I’m not the one that needs to be looked after: Michael does. I’m afraid that this journey, this trip has got him on edge and I don’t know how that will affect him.”
“Maybe Ghilya’s meditation techniques might work on bringing him peace or coming to terms with everything?”
He said it posing more as a question more than a statement that was meant to assure Thomas that there was something else to rely on. Though he did not dare to air his concerns so openly in such confined areas, Thomas was afraid for his brother and knew that things were only going to get harder from now on.